Thousands of teachers descended on the state Capitol Thursday and Friday, the second demonstration in as many weeks.

They’re advocating for higher pay, better overall school funding and a fix to the state’s underfunded public pension plan. A sea of red shirts — a movement known as RedForEd, which has spread to other states — greeted lawmakers throughout the two days.

“School districts and public school supporters end up begging for the leftover money at the end of every legislative session while our dedicated educators are forced to work second jobs and buy school supplies out of their own pockets, ” said Kerrie Dallman, president of the Colorado Education Association. “Lawmakers are uniquely positioned to make game-changing investments in K-12 this year and we want to see big results, like a multi-year commitment that proves Colorado values students and respects educators.”

Colorado’s teachers join their counterparts in Arizona, West Virginia, Kentucky and Oklahoma in protests, showing mounting frustration over low pay and overcrowded classrooms.

Senate Republicans, however, have pointed out this week that unlike the other states, they have no say in how much teachers are paid. That’s because salaries are set by the state’s 178 local school districts, rather than by the legislature, which is how it’s done elsewhere.

Senate President Pro tem Jerry Sonnenberg told reporters this week that teachers who came to the Capitol a week earlier never contacted him, although he said he regularly hears from those back in the district. “With the teacher shortage we have in my area, they don’t have substitutes…They can’t take off to come to Denver,” he said.

However, Sterling schools were closed Friday as those teachers decided to come to Denver to participate in the protest.

Senate Republican leadership blasted the teachers’ union for stirring up teachers on issues the legislature can’t address, such as teacher pay.

Senate President Kevin Grantham of Canon City added that the union isn’t giving teachers accurate information. “They’re not being told the truth” about how the state is addressing school funding. “I’m not sure what the reason is for the rally,” he added. “It’s not about issues we can deal with,” such as teacher salaries.

Sonnenberg blamed the union for the walkout, stating he was told the union was pressuring its members to converge on the Capitol after the state budget for 2018-19 was already set. “If they want to go to the ballot, go to the ballot,” he said.

That’s exactly what’s being planned. Ballot initiative 93 would seek $1.6 billion in funding for public education. The measure was tied to a bill moving through the General Assembly to change the state’s school financing formula, but that bill died this week at the request of its sponsor, Democratic Rep. Dave Young of Greeley. Initiative 93 would change income tax rates, with voter approval, to pay for the funding hike. The measure has been approved for petition signatures.

Speaker of the House Crisanta Duran of Denver said Monday the General Assembly is doing all it can and said she supports the ballot measure as a way of finding more dollars for K-12.

House Democrats also acknowledged that teacher pay increases isn’t within their control this week. “With local control, we can only give the districts the money. They decide how to spend it,” said Democratic Rep. Barbara McLachlan of Durango.

Senate Republicans responded to the looming teacher walkout by introducing a bill that would jail teachers who go out on strike. So far, only teachers in Pueblo have vote for a strike, reportedly an action that they approved on April 20 and based on the local school board’s rejection of a 2 percent raise.

As introduced, Senate Bill 264 would authorize school districts to seek a court order blocking a strike, and any teacher who defies that court order would be found in contempt and subject to six months in jail, a fine or both. The teacher can also be fired without due process.

Republican Sen. Bob Gardner of Colorado Springs, the measure’s sponsor, told reporters this week that the bill isn’t intended to block a teacher’s First Amendment rights. He noted that it’s already illegal for state employees to strike. Gardner also said he intends to amend the bill to remove the contempt of court charge and limit it to $50 per day per student.

The bill’s target would also shift to the teachers’ union rather than individual teachers, under Gardner’s amendment. He called unions in other states where teachers have gone on strike “organized and militant,” and that strikes are unacceptable and a disruption.

The bill has no chance of making it to the governor’s desk, given the Democratic-controlled House, and Grantham on Monday indicated he believes the bill has little chance of even making it out of the Republican-controlled Senate. Senate Bill 264 is slated for action from the Senate State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee on Monday.

Colorado’s public schools are underfunded by at least $620 million, the result of budget cuts that took place during the great recession. The state initially cut $1 billion from the K-12 budget, a move referred to back then as the negative factor. Since that 2010-11 action, the state has managed to pay back more than a third of that amount, with $150 million of that coming in the 2018-19 budget year.

In related news at the Capitol:

House Democrats this week advocated for a bipartisan package of bills designed to help recruit and retain teachers. That includes House Bill 1309, which would set up a paid-apprenticeship program jointly managed by the state Department of Education and Department of Higher Education.

Known as a “grow your own” program, House Bill 1309 would require school districts to cover the costs for the last 36 hours of college credit for those in teacher programs, with the agreement that the student, once graduated, would teach in a school district for three years. A portion of those college costs would be covered by the state through a grant program.

The bill would create a “teacher of record license” for a student who has completed or is close to completing all of the coursework for the teaching degree. House Bill 1309 passed the House on a 47-17 vote on Thursday.

A second bill, Senate Bill 85, is directly aimed at addressing the rural teacher shortage. The Colorado Department of Education already has a program that provides a $6,000 stipend to a teacher who agrees to work in a rural school district for three years. Senate Bill 85 expands that program from its current limit of 20 stipends annually to 60.

House Bill 1412, which won a 50-14 vote of approval from the House Wednesday, sets up the “Retaining Teachers Grant Program,” which would cover the costs of a three-year grant to school districts for on-site early child care, professional development, technology, and incentive programs for “highly-effective teachers.”

An issue not addressed in those bills is the cost of housing, which teachers point out has become so expensive that it’s beyond their reach in many of the communities in which they work. McLachlan pointed out Monday that a boost of $30 million in the 2018-19 state budget to rural school districts could be used for affordable housing and said two school districts in her area – Gunnison and Lake City — are already planning to use that one-time funding bump for those purposes.